In a book on preaching by George Sweazey, the author reminds us that "Christianity is not something you talk about, it is something you do. Sitting through sermons can become the major Christian activity." And, of course, that is not all that we are called to do, is it? "What we want is deeds, not words," we sometimes say. But Dr. Sweazey says that that is a false dichotomy. Indeed, says he, words are deeds! The ancient Greeks had a saying, "By words alone are lives of mortals swayed." Sweazey writes: "the talkers are the doers, if what they talk about is important. The greatest doer of all was called the Word,' and words that start with him have changed men and nations." (PREACHING THE GOOD NEWS, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall Co., 1976. p. 3)

He goes on: "If what a preacher says can alter even slightly the direction in which people are aimed when they leave the church, the effect can be beyond all calculation." What people think determines everything. Lincoln said: With the public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. Consequently, he who moulds public opinion goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions. (Sweazey, op. cit., p. 9) Physicians and farmers labor to keep people alive. Preachers labor to make their lives worth living. And that is infinitely worth doing. Joseph Conrad said that words, "Have set the whole nations in motion and upheaved the dry, hard ground on which rests our social fabric... Give me the right word and the right accent and I will move the world." Actions are important: but words motivate actions.